Erdogan Wants to Strip Paylan of Immunity

By Asbarez | Sunday, 30 December 2018

Garo Paylan

The office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has petitioned the leadership of the parliament to strip the immunity of eight lawmakers, among them Garo Paylan, an Armenian legislator representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP).

This is yet another attempt by Erdogan to weaken opposition forces in Turkey, especially the HDP, which represents a large Kurdish constituency.

If Paylan is stripped on his immunity, he could be arrested since there are charges and lawsuit against him that have not moved forward due to his immunity.

In addition to Paylan, five of his HDP colleagues are also on the list, as it a lawmaker representing Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and, surprisingly, a member of Erdogan’s own ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Reza Posac.